People protest 'racist' Ted Nugent concert

Published 6:56 am, Wednesday, August 7, 2013

NEW HAVEN --There was a protest outside a concert in New Haven Tuesday night, over what the rocker on stage said about the Trayvon Martin case.

Ted Nugent was in town Tuesday night and a pretty good size crowd came out to let him know they don't want him here.

"Hey hey. Ho. Ho. Let's shut down this racist show," said the protesters.

Toad's Place in New Haven can get loud inside when a musician performs. Tuesday, it was loud outside with people protesting the concert by rocker Ted Nugent.

Nugent made controversial comments about Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

"I think it's incredibly insensitive of Ted Nugent to go after a dead 17-year-old who was trying to get home. We have to stop this hate speech," said Patricia Kane, a protestor.

Nugent called Trayvon Martin a "17-year-old, dope smoking, racist, gangsta wannabe." He said "Trayvon had no reason not to attack, because it was the standard, thug thing to do." "He shouldn't be singled out because there are millions of other people who make racist comments of all different types, on all sides," said Tony Purcell, a Nugent supporter.

Brian Phelps, the owner of Toad's Place, refused protester demands to pull the plug on Nugent.

"Ted Nugent is an entertainer and he has his own views on a lot of stuff," Phelps told the New Haven Register. "The entire spectrum of entertainer folks go from extreme right to extreme left, and some in the middle. But that's got nothing to do with his show here, nor does it have anything to do with Toad's Place. This is just a music show. His political views are his, and the media that gets involved with him."

One of Nugent's biggest hits was "Cat Scratch Fever," released in 1977.